Brown University engineering alumni Lallit Anand Sc.M. '72 Ph.D. '75 and Wei Yang Ph.D. '85 have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). They are two of the 83 new members and 16 foreign members elected, which brings the total U.S. membership to 2,293 members and the number of foreign members to 262.
Anand, Warren and Towneley Rohsenow Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was elected for contributions to the development of plasticity for engineering technology: theory, experiment, and computation.
Yang, President of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, was elected for contributions to multiscale modeling of mechanical failure and reliability, and for leadership in engineering education and research.
"This is a spectacular achievement and we are extremely happy for them," said Sorensen Family Dean of Engineering Larry Larson. "To have two alumni elected in one year from Brown is a tremendous accomplishment."
Election to the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to "engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature," and to the "pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education."
Anand and Yang join an exclusive group of 17 Brown engineering alumni already in the NAE that includes: Sangeeta Bhatia '90 (elected 2015), Guruswami Ravichandran Sc.M. '83 Ph.D. '87 (elected 2015), H. David Hibbitt Ph.D. '72 (elected 2013), Enrique Lavernia '82 (elected 2013), Ares J. Rosakis Sc.M.'80 Ph.D.'83 (elected 2011), Jean-Yves Parlange Ph.D.'62 (elected 2006), Alan I. Taub '76 (elected 2006), Robert M. McMeeking Ph.D.'75 (elected 2005), Chain T. Liu Sc.M.'64 Ph.D.'67 (elected 2004), Hratch Gregory Semerjian Sc.M.'68 Ph.D.'72 (elected 2000), Marc S. Newkirk '69 (elected 1997), Wai-Fah Chen Ph.D.'66 (elected 1995), George J. Dvorak Ph.D.'69 (elected 1995), T. Dixon Dudderar Ph.D.'66 (elected 1992), William F. Allen '41 (elected 1986), Walter J. Weber '56 (elected 1985), and Thomas O. Paine '42 (elected 1973).
Fifteen current or former Brown engineering faculty members have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering, including Huajian Gao, Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Engineering, (elected 2012) and Otis Randall University Professor Clyde Briant (elected 2010). Other members include: Michael Ortiz (elected 2013), Choon Fong Shih (elected 2004), Subra Suresh (elected 2002), Alan Needleman (elected 2000), Professor Emeritus L.B. Freund (elected 1994), Professor Emeritus Rod Clifton (elected 1989), Richard Goldstein (elected 1985), Joseph Kestin (elected 1982), James R. Rice (elected 1980), Ronald Probstein (elected 1977), John Gilman (elected 1975), Daniel C. Drucker (elected 1967), and William Prager (elected 1965).